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Sermon for Trinity 15
Galatians 5:25-6:10 + Matthew 6:24-34
“In God we trust.” That phrase has been printed on U.S. coins since long before any of us here were born, printed on U.S. paper currency before many of us were born. In God we trust. Is it true of everyone who uses U.S. currency? Of course not. In fact, it’s ironic that the money that bears the phrase, “In God we trust” is often the very thing that people replace God with, and trust in it instead. See how the word “money” replaces “God” in the following statements: “Money will protect me. Money will keep me fed and warm. Money will ensure that I have what I need for this life. I live to serve money, to gain money, because where money is, there is true happiness.” If that’s our attitude, then it’s not, “In God we trust.” It’s, “In money we trust.”
But money is a tough god to please. You work for it, get it, spend it, and then it’s gone. Where did it go? It abandoned you! So you keep working for it, and you keep using it up. You spend it, but your needs never go away. And so the path of serving money is a lifelong path paved with worry. I need to get more, and more! It all comes down to me. Me, and my labor. Me, and my plans. Me, and my skill. I need to provide for myself and my family, with the help of my god, money.
That’s a pagan attitude, one that’s fitting for unbelievers. But Christians aren’t immune to it, this idolatry of money, this idolatry of self, and the worry that is one of the chief symptoms of serving such paltry gods. And so Jesus, in His Sermon on the Mount, works ever so gently to correct this dangerous attitude that can infect even His own disciples. He calls on us to do a 180 in our hearts, to turn away completely from trusting in and serving the god of money called Mammon, and from the worry that accompanies such service, and to turn instead toward trusting in and serving our heavenly Father, with the peace of mind that accompanies such service.
Our Gospel begins, “No one can serve two lords. For either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Mammon.” The notion that you can serve, or pursue, both earthly wealth and God is simply false, Jesus says. A lot of people think they can do both, but, Jesus says, they’re wrong. You can either live for God or live for earthly success. You can’t live for both. You may end up having both—having God and wealth, having God and earthly success, if God permits it. But you can’t live for both, pursue both, trust in both. It’s one or the other, Jesus says. In God we trust, or, in Mammon we trust.
“Therefore I say to you, stop worrying about your life, what you will eat, or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? This sermon was originally preached mainly toward the poor in Israel. Not necessarily the poorest of the poor, or the homeless on the streets, but toward those who struggled to make ends meet, who didn’t have huge bank accounts or retirement accounts, who weren’t set for life, who didn’t have guaranteed job security, and who didn’t have any sort of welfare system to bail them out. Jesus was speaking mainly to people who were worried about basic necessities, people who weren’t wealthy enough to have the luxury of choosing which brand of food or which brand of clothing they wanted from the store, but who were used to having little more than daily bread and one or two sets of clothing. And so they were worried about their life, worried about basic survival.
Jesus says, Stop! Stop worrying about your life, that is, about how you’ll get the things you need in order to survive, like food and clothing. Life is more than food. The body is more than clothing. That’s the first reason not to worry about your life. When you treat this life like nothing more than running after the things you need to survive, you miss out on what life is really about, what life is really for, which He’ll get to in a moment.
Then He gives a second reason why it’s foolish to worry about your life. “Look at the birds of the air! They do not sow, nor do they reap, nor do they gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” God teaches us certain truths through His creation, and Jesus points to one of them here and spells it out for us. The birds don’t waste a moment of their short lives toiling to produce food for themselves. But the One who has created you and has adopted you back into His family through faith in Christ—your heavenly Father—sees to it that there is food there, in nature, for the birds to find. And you, as human beings, made in the image of God, redeemed by the blood of Christ, and sanctified by the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit—you are much more valuable in God’s sight than the birds. If He cares for them, He cares much more for you! If he provides for them, He will provide much more for you!
Then there’s a third reason why it’s foolish to worry about your life. “Which of you by worrying can add one foot to his stature?” Well, can you? Of course not. Worrying about something has exactly zero effect on the outcome. Allowing yourself to be consumed by anxiety doesn’t move you closer to what you want or further away from what you dread. It only causes harm for the worrier and for those in the worrier’s vicinity.
Jesus adds a fourth reason why it’s foolish to worry about your life. “And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they do not toil, nor do they spin. And yet I tell you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not dressed like one of these. Therefore, if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today stands and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? This is similar to the second reason Jesus gave. Look around at God’s providence in nature, even for inanimate things like flowers or plants. When He talked about the birds, He noted that you, God’s believing children, are much more valuable to God than they. Here, when talking about the flowers, Jesus emphasizes that God provides for them even though they only last for a moment, for a day, and then wither away or are cut down and burned up. But you, the ones who have believed in Jesus, who have been given the right to become children of God—your earthly life will last much longer than any flower, and, more importantly, you have an immortal soul and a body that will be made immortal at the resurrection. Your heavenly Father already gave His beloved Son into death for your sins, to purchase you for Himself. He has already clothed you, by faith, through Holy Baptism, in the robe of Christ’s righteousness. If you believe that, then how could you ever believe that He will fail to provide you with the clothing you need for your body? As Paul writes, He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, how will He not, along with Jesus, freely give us all things?
“So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or, ‘What shall we drink?’ or, ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles chase after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. There’s reason number five why it’s foolish to worry about your life. The Gentiles—that is, the people who don’t know the true God, who have not yet been made His children through Holy Baptism—they chase after material things, earthly things. They spend their lives pursuing their careers so that they can get the things they need to live. In money they trust, because money is all they have to trust in. But you—you have a Father in heaven, who is above all, who sees all, who is almighty and all-powerful, and who has called you His children. And your Father knows what you need. You don’t have to chase after it. Your Father will bring it to you, whatever you need for this life, whether it’s food and clothing, or whether it’s things like companionship, or a spouse, or timely advice, or a helping hand.
You, the children of the heavenly Father, don’t have to make it your first priority to seek after these things. Instead, Jesus says, seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. To seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness means, first and foremost, to make it your first and highest priority to know the true God, to listen to His Word, to do as St. Paul says, to count all things here as rubbish, that you may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having your own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith. Your primary purpose as a human being is to know Jesus, to seek God the Father’s approval through Christ Jesus, and then to walk in step with the Holy Spirit, all the way to your grave, or to the Last Day, whichever comes first. Part of that walking in step with the Spirit is to help your fellow Christians along on this journey, and also to keep inviting non-Christians to know the Lord so that they may join you on this journey.
Seeking first God’s kingdom and His righteousness means turning your heart away from Mammon, away from earthly gain, away from worry, and turning it instead toward God, trusting that, as you seek Him, you’ll have all that you need here, because He’ll see to it for you. Leave it up to Him. That doesn’t mean, “Don’t bother working,” or, “Don’t bother going to the store to buy food or clothes.” It means, devote your life to God and to doing what’s righteous or right, which will include working, if you’re able to work, but not work for the sake of survival. Work for the sake of using your talents and your opportunities to serve God. And when I say “work,” that includes the work of a faithful Christian wife and mother of making a good and godly home for her family. It includes the work of Christian children doing their chores and honoring their parents. It includes the work of retired Christians setting aside the worldly notion of cramming as much enjoyment into their final years as possible, and, instead, still seeking God’s kingdom and His righteousness before anything else.
To sum it all up, Jesus concludes, Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. It is enough for each day to have its own trouble. Leave tomorrow, with all its troubles, with all its uncertainties, in your Father’s capable hands. Cast all your cares on Him, Peter writes, because He cares for you. In God we trust. In God let us trust! And let us find rest and respite in His goodness, in His wisdom, and in His unfailing Fatherly care. Amen.
